Browsing The Archives
by Handful of Silence
Summary: Lestrade and some of the Yarders secretly write fanfiction about the world's only consulting detective and his flatmate. It turns out that they're not the only ones. Johnlock, Mystrade.


AN: I had to sort this out in my head before I wrote this all down: basically, the characters of Sherlock (TV) writing RPF on the In-Universe Sherlock and John.

I can't actually explain the inclusion of the Mystrade. I'm not even sure how it happened. It just... appeared. The muse does work in curious ways.

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><p><strong>Browsing the Archives<strong>

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><p><strong>From:<strong> S Donovan  
><strong>To:<strong> G Lestrade, R Dimmock, T Gregson, L Anderson, J Rance, J Clarkson, Y Moore, T Brookes, S Baynes, A Jones, S Hopkins, E Bradstreet  
><strong>Subject:<strong> Prompt Time!

_It's time for that weekly writing exercise again, fellow shippers! Best one gets free pints at the Black Hound on the next night out (which should be more than enough prompting for any of you – except you Rance, you can have lemonade, what with the AA and all...) and fics are judged by the entirely unbiased **hoop_the_loop **over at 's see how much slash we can get out of this! (and het for the rare ones among you who write genderswap)_

_Remember, 221b format as always. Other than that, anything goes!_

_Prompt: this article they had in the Mail re: the Freak. John gets described as entirely too secretive about the two's supposed 'salacious' romantic life, with all sorts of 'sources close to the pair' insinuating gossip about two single men sharing a flat together. We all know what the Mail's like with things like this, but run with that. ;-)_

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><p><strong>Misc: RPF: Sherlock Holmes: <strong>**Recent Uploads**

**Nightingale Among The Owls  
><strong>_Rated: T – English – Romance – Sherlock H & John W.  
><em>_by _**silver_fox  
><strong>Summary: A chance encounter, a fleeting glance, and a certain consulting detective proven wrong when it comes to falling in love. Sherlock/John

**Reviews (3)**

**jawn'n'sherlockOTP  
><strong>Oh wow! Brilliant! I love your style, and your Sherlock is great!

**just_tea_for_me  
><strong>I hardly think Sherlock would be so melodramatic as to mope endlessly and with so much sighing and self-angsting over the prospect of unrequited love with John. Still, your writing does show some promise at least – your slash is still one of the more superior examples on the site, better than some of the other drivel I've had to trawl through.

**Reply: silver_fox  
><strong>Um... thanks. I think.

**sergeant_sassy  
><strong>Just read your handiwork this morning, waiting like a gift-wrapped wonder in my inbox. Should I have ever expected anything other than soppy oodles of fluff from you?

**Reply: silver_fox  
><strong>As opposed to your spectacular smut fics? I'll be expecting to see your uploads later on, and have no doubt at some point I'll exclaim in disbelief that the human body in your fics can be stretched in positions that are clearly a spinal disaster waiting to happen. =) Nope, I think I'll be writing romantic soppy trash for a while yet... You seem to have the M rated area covered =)

**Reply: sergeant_sassy  
><strong>Ha ha, damn right ;-)

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><p><strong>An Unexpected Pleasure<br>**_Rated: M – English – Romance – Sherlock H & John W.  
><em>_by_** sergeant_sassy  
><strong>Summary: John never expected Sherlock to be that interested in handcuffs. He was in for a surprising, but ultimately pleasing shock. PWP. S/J

**Reviews (4)**

**Jlock4eva  
><strong>*squee* Your stories are wicked!. I think I have to go lie down in my bunk now, especially after that scene with the riding crop. Oh my good lord...*fans self*

**hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>=) Great start! Please write more.

**sherlockian42  
><strong>OMG OMG OMG! Please update soon!

**silver_fox  
><strong>You know exactly how to wind a man up don't you? You build it up until Sherlock's a squirming, writhing mess of gibbering sex-mad idiot, and then just leave it there for us to wait till you update! Tut tut, shame on you.

Mind you, I'm glad he doesn't know we write these, never mind read your particular brand smut; I think he'd be just a little bit offended if he knew his fictional self once professed ardently to "hunger for John's cock".

**Reply: sergeant_sassy  
><strong>What he doesn't know wont hurt him, will it? ;-) Anyway, it's just a bit of fun. And it's not like he'll ever find out that most of your division are secret Johnlock shippers who write scenarios about how much sex they're having inside the walls of Baker Street (and in taxis... and down alleyways... and in closets... ;-). He'd never come back to the crime scenes if he knew... well, having said that he probably would, actually. Freak's gotta get his kicks somehow.

**Reply: silver_fox  
><strong>We all know exactly how you think Sherlock gets his kicks, don't we? Mainly, getting buggered senseless by a certain army doctor. =)

On a tiny nitpicking note: you use the word "engorged" three times, and maybe adopt another word to describe thrusting? "Moaned wantonly" is also used twice. You can borrow my thesaurus tomorrow, I think I've got one somewhere.

And on that note, I hope that performance appraisal is going to be on my desk by 10. Super's on my back already as it is.

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><p><strong>From:<strong> G Lestrade  
><strong>To:<strong> S Donovan  
><strong>Subject<strong>: HELP!

_Right, I'm partway through that fic I told you about on Thursday, bout 5k words now and counting, and it's turning out to be a bloody monster of a thing. Sherlock and John have had a major fight, of the throwing-plates and wanting to throttle some pale lanky idiot in a dark coat variety, that kind of bad fight. John's stormed off and gives Sherlock the silent treatment when he gets back (like the one we saw during that case couple of weeks back – what was it? The Copper Seaside? The Pewter Beaches?), and now Sherlock's trying to get back in his good books. I'm nearly done, I've already got the ending worked out, just can't get the dialogue down right. You know how it is sometimes._

_Any suggestions?_

**From:** S Donovan  
><strong>To:<strong> G Lestrade  
><strong>Subject: Re:<strong> HELP!

_Apart from having them just shag each other senseless? You don't need many words for that. Well, "more" and "harder" and "Oh God, Sherlock!", but that's about it._

**From:** G Lestrade  
><strong>To:<strong> S Donovan  
><strong>Subject<strong>: **Re: ** HELP!

_Sally!_

**From:** S Donovan  
><strong>To:<strong> G Lestrade  
><strong>Subject: Re:<strong> HELP!

_What, you asked! I dunno, I'm not great with meaningful heartfelt moments, maybe get onto Dimmock? He's good with dialogue, and he's been trying to write his own fic for ages but hasn't yet had a plot fully formed that he can try his hand at. Co-author with him?_

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><p><strong>Misc: RPF: Sherlock Holmes: <strong>**Recent Uploads**

**Drive Me Wild  
><strong>_Rated: M – English – Romance/Hurt/Comfort – Sherlock H & John W.  
><em>_by **silver_fox**_

Summary: Written with **dim_rocks **over on Tumblr. Set during the Copper Beaches case. Sherlock's said something wrong, crossed a line he didn't know was there, and now John's seriously considering leaving. What can he do to fix it?

**Reviews (1)**

**sergeant_sassy  
><strong>Woohoo! Took my advice about the shagging senseless did you?

**Reply: silver_fox  
><strong>Surprisingly, Dimmock wrote the whole of that scene. Absolutely no shame, got to hand it to him, just nodded when I told him where the story was at and how it was going to end, and handed this smutty wonder on my desk this morning. His full stop skills have no shame either, which is a bit more distressing. Do you know how long it takes to edit his sentences?

**Reply: sergeant_sassy  
><strong>Ha ha, I can imagine. My sympathy.

Next chapter up of **Unexpected Pleasure.** And there seems to be an influx of newer RPF fic after that recent case of theirs, which is always a bonus. Can't blame them for being inspired to write it. People thought the Hounds case was bromantic – this one was like condensing the X-Files UST into one manageable half an hour crime scene.

**Reply: silver_fox  
><strong>Oh, that wasn't our division, think Bradstreet was covering it. Summary of the main gossip? I'll hear it in the staffroom on Monday anyway.

**Reply: sergeant_sassy  
><strong>John brushed Sherlock's hair out of his eyes at one point when the Freak was too deep in his bloody 'Mind Box' or whatever it is to notice. Also, Sherlock doing the whole alpha-male thing whenever an attractive man starts hitting on John. The Freak couldn't be more obvious if he tried. Poor Bradstreet didn't know what hit him when he complimented the man's jumper. You'll probably be getting a bill from his psychiatrist in a couple of weeks.

Rest assured, I will be writing some inspired fic. ;-)

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><p><strong>Misc: RPF: Sherlock Holmes: <strong>**Recent Uploads**

**On Official Business  
><strong>_Rated: M – English – Romance – Mycroft H. & G. Lestrade  
><em>_by _**under_my_umbrella  
><strong>Summary: Mycroft had always thought himself cold. Aloof. Without need of love. It took a grey haired inspector to show him there was another way. Mystrade.

**Reviews (1)**

**silver_fox  
><strong>Um... OK. No, I mean, this is good, great fic and everything, very... in character... I just never considered Mystrade as a pairing before now. Nor that the Cabinet Office could double as a bondage room. Nor that an umbrella could be used as a sex toy.

**Reply: under_my_umbrell  
><strong>Impressive, don't you think? I'm glad you approve. This was my first foray into the depths of so called 'fanfiction', and I was working so very hard at making it... shall we say, anatomically accurate.

**Reply: silver_fox  
><strong>Your descriptions of Mycroft are certainly... detailed. Especially regarding his impressive... well, talents in particular departments other than governmental ones.

**Reply: under_my_umbrella  
><strong>Completely true, I'm told. I would imagine that if Lestrade and Mycroft ever met in real life, the Detective Inspector would certainly act favourably was he propositioned. There is a lot on offer for him.

**From:** G Lestrade  
><strong>To:<strong> S Donovan  
><strong>Subject:<strong> Um...

_I have the feeling I'm being groomed through the medium of fanfiction. Should I be worried at all?_

**From:** S Donovan  
><strong>To:<strong> G Lestrade  
><strong>Subject: Re: <strong>Um...

_Just read that fic you directed me to – should I ask whether you really get off on being 'interrogated' by suited men in shadow as a form of kinky foreplay? I'm not judging, just curious.;-)_

**From:** G Lestrade  
><strong>To:<strong> S Donovan  
><strong>Subject: Re:<strong> Um...

_This line of questioning is entirely unsuitable for a superior officer. _

_I will see you on Monday, Sergeant._

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><p><strong>Misc: RPF: Sherlock Holmes: <strong>**Recent Uploads**

**tyrannous  
><strong>_Rated: M – English – Hurt/Comfort/Angst – Sherlock H.  
><em>_by **hear_me_rawrr  
><strong>_Summary: shrlock has been kidnapped by evil evil villains, who want to do evil evil things to him if he doesn't stop being so smart all the time. will shelrock ever learn to submit like he should. will he?

**Reviews (2)**

**sergeant_sassy  
><strong>You really need to get to some anger management classes, instead of taking all your rage out on fictional representations of real people. I know a good specialist, cheap rates.

Capitals on proper nouns, and for God's sake, it's S-H-E-R-L-O-CK! Not shrlock, sheroc, or shelrock or any of the many variations you manage to include. *face palm*

**silver_fox  
><strong>If I had to count the times on my hands you've included major Sherlock!whump and/or character death in your work, I'd run out of fingers and thumbs after the first ten fics I passed.

And what's this with the "cool", "intelligent" and "funny" forensic officer who tries to help poor imprisoned Shelrock, who also just happens to like collecting dinosaurs in his spare time? What did I tell you about writing self-inserts?

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><p><strong>From: <strong>S Donovan  
><strong>To:<strong> G Lestrade  
><strong>Subject:<strong> Fic Rec

_You wont have had time to browse the newer stuff recently, but in case you haven't caught them before, there's a really good writer that's putting out some pretty amazing AU fics (and if I say so myself, the smut is top class – but very very NSFW ;-)). Check them out (AT HOME!)_

**BohemianSoul  
><strong>_Author of 4 stories_

**Tipping the Barbed Wire  
><strong>_Rated: M – English – Romance/Hurt/Comfort – Sherlock H & John W.  
><em>Summary: fem!AU. Sherlock had always been an odd name for a girl. An odd name for an odd girl with odd tastes. Good thing, she found in her flatmate someone to accommodate her... less than vanilla passions. Fem!John/Fem!Sherlock. PWP BDSM

**Tie Me Tighter, Hold Me Down  
><strong>_Rated: M – English – Romance – Sherlock H & John W.  
><em>Summary: Part 2 of the Beg For Mercy series. Sherlock's in full case mode and John is ridiculously horny. He decides to do something about it. PWP. Fem!John.

**Heartless  
><strong>_Rated: M – English – Drama/Fantasy– Sherlock H & John W.  
><em>Summary: Fantasy!AU. Sherlock had his heart stolen once by a devious thief named Sebastian. He never expected John to break into the man's house just to get it back for him. So he found a way to repay him somehow. S/J, past Sherlock/Sebastian, BDSM

**Reviews (2)**

**hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>John was such a BAMF! And the bit when he broke Seb's nose was completely priceless. Awesome!

**just_tea_for_me  
><strong>First off, have you ever actually studied the anatomy of the body? In case your tiny intellect didn't even think of straying onto Wikipedia to verse yourself in basic biology, let me inform you from the off that the heart cannot be taken out as though a mere trinket as you suggest – not only is there the primary stumbling block of the ribcage being in the way, but also the blood flow around the body would stop without any working valves. The consulting detective you therefore have swanning around London like a love-struck idiot, would drop down dead with a hole in his chest should your fic ever come to light.

**Reply: BohemianSoul  
><strong>It's an AU, darling. It's not meant to be completely realistic, a bit of playful fun. Utterly vanilla compared to my usual fare, you should be proud of me. And I thought I handled Sherlock's character rather well. In real life, though I of course don't know him as well or as intimately as I'd like to, he appears to fawn over John, ignoring all other women in the vicinity in favour of lusting after his short, yet totally oblivious flatmate.

**Reply: just_tea_for_me  
><strong>Jealous are we?

**Reply: BohemianSoul  
><strong>Not me, no. Goodness, I have far more tempting interests now I've settled. Marriage is a wonderful thing. But I would say Sherlock seems to be rather bitter around John's twittering little girlfriends, wouldn't you?

**Reply: just_tea_for_me  
><strong>I have no comment on the matter.

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><p><strong>Officially Out of His League<br>**_Rated: M – English – Romance – Mycroft H. & G. Lestrade  
><em>_by _**under_my_umbrella  
><strong>Summary: Mycroft wants to ask Lestrade out. He just doesn't know how. WIP.

**Reviews (1)**

**silver_fox  
><strong>Is this it? Only you end it on a kind of sad note... Mycroft forever doomed to unresolved and unrequited affection, longingly wanting Lestrade to notice him.

So... will there be more...? Got to admit, this pairing has kind of grown on me as of late.

**Reply: under_my_umbrella  
><strong>I was considering writing a sequel in which Mycroft plucks up the courage to finally say something, and the two of them go out on a first date. However, I haven't quite got quite the inspiration for the plot-line yet.

**Reply: silver_fox  
><strong>Hmm. 7Pm, Tuesday, that nice Thai place on Curzon Street. How's that for inspiration?

**Reply: under_my_umbrella  
><strong>We could... collaborate? Discuss certain fanfictions of literary merit?

**Reply: silver_fox  
><strong>We can start with a rendition of **On Official Business**, and then, if you've read it, **BohemianSoul**'s **The Iceman **series.

**Reply: under_my_umbrella  
><strong>I haven't had the pleasure. M rated?

**Reply: silver_fox  
><strong>Very.

**Reply: under_my_umbrella  
><strong>My dear, I think trying to give me ideas for several more (what is that infernal metaphor that gets thrown around – plot rabbits?) that I could make into fics.

**Reply: silver_fox  
><strong>I expect you to tell me all about what the muse has told you on Tuesday. Every detail. Nothing spared. It's important to thoroughly research after all.

**From: **G Lestrade  
><strong>To:<strong> S Donovan  
><strong>Subject:<strong> ?

_Is it voyeurism if you're reading fic based on the fictional version of yourself having sex?_

**From: **S Donovan  
><strong>To:<strong> G Lestrade  
><strong>Subject: Re: <strong>?

_Everyone's got kinks right? Who are you paired with? Anyone I know? ;-)_

**From: **G Lestrade  
><strong>To:<strong> S Donovan  
><strong>Subject: Re: <strong>?

_THAT is none of your business._

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><p><strong>Misc: RPF: Sherlock Holmes: <strong>**Recent Uploads**

**Not Quite True  
><strong>_Rated: K – English – Family/Romance – Sherlock H. & Mycroft H.  
><em>by** _ just_tea_for_me  
><em>**Summary: Mycroft called Sherlock a virgin during the Belgravia case. And of course, it would take a genius like Sherlock to fool him. Because it definitely wasn't true. Not since John had moved in anyway. Sherlock/John. Warnings: Mycroft being an insufferable busybody as is usual.

**Reviews (1)**

**under_my_umbrella  
><strong>_Really?_ "Mycroft flounced into the room. This was unusual for him, as he often rolled in from meetings on account of his unstoppable binge eating of cakes on a regular basis".

**Reply: just_tea_for_me  
><strong>I see no issue with the description.

**Reply: under_my_umbrella  
><strong>"Mycroft, a close friend and life long customer of Mr Kipling, looked like an idiot when he sneered, his hooked nose and high screeching voice..."

Aren't we being childish now?

**Reply: just_tea_for_me  
><strong>Not at all.

Cakecroft.

**Reply: under_my_umbrella  
><strong>*sigh*

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><p><strong>Misc: RPF: Sherlock Holmes: <strong>**Recent Uploads**

**Outside Working Hours  
><strong>_Rated: M – English – Romance – Mycroft H. & G. Lestrade  
><em>_by **under_my_umbrella  
><strong>_Summary: Co-authored with **silver_fox. ** In which the Cabinet Office and the Prime Minister's Waiting Room have their floors tested, and it turns out to be entirely possible to have sex in the Diogenes Club.

**Government Policy  
><strong>_Rated: M – English – Romance – Mycroft H. & G. Lestrade  
><em>_by **silver_fox  
><strong>_Summary: Co-authored with **under_my_umbrella.** Lestrade never thought an umbrella could be used as an effective sex toy. He was so very wrong. PWP

**Reviews (2)**

**sergeant_sassy  
><strong>You old fox, you! I don't know whether to call you a dirty pervert or congratulate you. Probably the latter from how damn HOT that was in writing.

I'll make sure nothing too... strenuous happens to you on Monday. I can't imagine sitting down would be very easy ;-)

**just_tea_for_me  
><strong>I feel the urge to be violently sick. Excuse me.

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><p><strong>From:<strong> S Donovan  
><strong>To:<strong> G Lestrade  
><strong>Subject:<strong> We've Got a TV Tropes Page! Finally! Link Below

_**Fan Fic Recs: RPF: Sherlock Holmes**_

_**Authors**_

**hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>_One of the first authors to post in the fandom, asides from **silver_fox **and **sergeant_sassy (**also highly recommended). Started out writing first person POV John-centric Afghanistan-era fics, but has been moving away from that into writing realistic and well-written Sherlock/John (We think he even invented the term 'Johnlock', although it can't be proven). His AU fics include fandom classics like **Hold the Fort**, **Scorched Earth **and **Desert Storm, **all which revolve around John's growing attraction to Sherlock._

**silver_fox  
><strong>_Johnlock shipper, and author of the fandom legend: **Tick Tock Man,** a Steampunk!AU with Sherlock and John (Holmes and Watson in this 'verse) kicking ass in an alternate Victorian London, aided by the BAMF Inspector Lestrade and the shy but equally BAMF school governess Miss Hooper. Now appearing to be permanently collaborating with **under_my_umbrella** penning very very M Mystrade fics. Oh so NSFW. Or anywhere public and not by a bunk tbh. _

**just_tea_for_me  
><strong>_Recent addition, but notable for precise details in deductions that would make the detective himself proud. While they have a habit of writing other characters (Anderson and Mycroft mostly) in an acerbic, almost 'bashing' manner, their Johnlock UST is so heartfelt and emotionally wrenching, something to read and weep at with a box of issues by your side._

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><p><strong>just_tea_for_me<br>**_Author of 18 stories  
><em>**Newest Uploads**

**Testing a Hypothesis  
><strong>_Rated: T – English – Romance/Friendship – Sherlock H. & John. W  
><em>Summary: Is it possible to be in love with your flatmate, even if he is biologically unsuited and the attraction is founded on unpredictable and nonsensical emotions such as love? Sherlock seeks to find out.

**Methodology  
><strong>_Rated: K – English – Romance/Friendship – Sherlock H. & John. W  
><em>Summary: Sherlock sets out a plan of action in order to analyse how to properly set about seducing John. He didn't count on the variables however.

**Abstract  
><strong>_Rated: K – English – Romance/Angst– Sherlock H. & John. W  
><em>Summary: 221b. Introspective piece. Sherlock considers his experiment with emotions, and whether it can truly be classed as such at all now that John's in his life.

**Reviews (2)**

**silver_fox  
><strong>Well done!

**hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>Just wanted to drop a note and say how much I love your fics, especially the **Experiments **arc you've got going on. Maybe in your next oneshot, you could have Sherlock finally getting on with it and expressing his intentions so John doesn't have to decode anymore conflicting signals. Sherlock's not exactly making it easy for John in these fics.

**Reply: just_tea_for_me  
><strong>I would think in the real world, should this pairing actually have any grounding, that John should instead make it clearer to Sherlock that his intentions and affections would be reciprocated before something so serious was admitted rashly and without due thought and consideration. Human emotions are after all difficult to decipher. and erratic at best.

**Reply: hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>He should use that great brain of his to work it out. I'm sure it'd come to him.

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><p><strong>hobbitsizedbadass<br>**_Author of 24 stories  
><em>**Newest Uploads**

**Hold the Fort  
><strong>_Rated: M – English – Romance/Angst– Sherlock H & John W.  
><em>Summary: Moriarty's not gone, just waiting. John has to prepare for the storm he knows is coming, all the while dealing with his new-found feelings for Sherlock. And then there's a knock on the door, and John's whole world threatens to fall apart. COMPLETE. (WOW! Look at all your reviews guys! Thanks! Now in podfic format, read by the amazing **hoop_the_loop**)

**Reviews (1k+)**

**just_tea_for_me  
><strong>I found the subject matter of this story tastefully dealt with, not some of the maudlin angsting tripe one finds on other sections of the site. I've seen more well-structured Mills & Boon than I have some of the poorly written 'Johnlock'. Sherlock thankfully hasn't been portrayed as a completely useless and pathetic in lusting after his flatmate, which is laudable characterisation entirely detached from the man's true character. Some minor grammatical issues (really, have you ever been acquainted with the comma?), but other than that, relatively commendable.

**Reply: hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>'Relatively commendable'. You do spoil me with your praise, you do ;-) Cheers though for the feedback, and thanks for the heads up on the grammar issue – having no beta reader does mean that all self-editing is under my own (poor) management =(.

**Reply: just_tea_for_me  
><strong>Does everything you type enquire emoticons?

Considering your predicament in terms of a lack of beta, I could offer to look over them for you, if you wished?

**Reply: hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>God, yeah mate, that would be fantastic! ( ;-) ). If you don't mind of course. I would hate to distract you from your own work (brilliant, by the way).

**Reply:** **just_tea_for_me  
><strong>Not at all.

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><p><strong>Going Native<br>**_Rated: K+ – English – Romance/Friendship – Sherlock H & John W.  
><em>_by _**hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>Summary: Domesticity comes easier to John than he expects living in 221b. He doesn't even really mind the heads in the fridge anymore. Beta-ed by **just_tea_for_me**, many thanks.

_[New PM] from _**just_tea_for_me  
><strong>Notes on the newest chapter of **Aim, Fire **that you sent through on Monday evening. Apologises for the delay in the feedback, I have been unfortunately held up with some rather pressing matters at work which required my full and utmost attention.

Your comma skills are improving rapidly, so I would congratulate you on that front – even if your paragraphing does still resemble sardines in that you seem to be trying to restrict your writing to as few pages as is logically possible. And Comic Sans! Have you completely taken leave of your faculties. Size 11 Times New Roman, is fine and SPACING WITH DIALOGUE!

Asides from that, I think there is only one section of this text I would query:

… _John breathes warm air onto the gooseflesh of Sherlock's skin, hearing the man murmuring gently in his sleep. He knows if he could compose great songs, odes and melodies, then he would make them sound like Sherlock, a replica in sound: a vibrant whirl of tempo and strings, and then, mid-way, the lessening of the drum-beats to the boomboom of a heartbeat, the soft aria of inhaling and exhaling, predictable as tide. He wonders if the heat of his breath, the rhyme of his heartbeat transferring through closeness to Sherlock's chest, could seep into the man's pores, fill him up, taking on John's heartbeat, lungs expanding in sync. He wonders if he's still himself at all anymore, if he's not become co-dependant, so much so that he needs this marble man by his side, a whirring mind and a ticking heart so brash with love. He wonders if he'd mind very much to find out that was the case..._

I understand the needs for poetics, and can put up with the insufferable poetry inspired prose – please try and remember you aren't Wordsworth, and don't even try to emulate Keats at any point – but 'brash with love'? Do you really feel a man like Sherlock Holmes even allows himself to admit how much he is in love?

Maybe you should change this?

[New PM] from **hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>S'ok mate, this week's been an absolute nightmare this end as well, stupidly hectic, and of course, my mad man of a flatmate hasn't helped either. I'm just glad it's all over and I can get back to writing.

I can see what you're saying about Sherlock as a character – but I'd have to disagree with you. I do think he can love, violently and utterly; because he... well, he appears to be at least... a man who doesn't do anything by halves, isn't able to, would never want to. Of course he has the capability of love, and I highly doubt he is so removed from society to cut himself off all forms of affection open to humans.

Everyone mentions the Great Game and the clearly obvious slash in John's Blog, and they're right, Sherlock does have a heart and he would be a fool to deny such a thing. I'm sure IRL if he just said something or made it clear his whole body wasn't 'transport' to him, that John would never even think to reject his proposal of mutual attraction.

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><p><strong>I Offer It To You<br>**_Rated: K+ – English – Romance/Friendship – Sherlock H & John W.  
><em>_by _**just_tea_for_me  
><strong>Summary: The heart is a vital organ, pumping blood and oxygen around the body. It isn't a romantic metaphor or one of those idiotic inaccurate shapes on Valentine's Day cards. Sherlock offers his to John anyway. And waits for his response. WIP

**Reviews (1)**

**hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>You crazy wonderful lunatic.

**And I Accept It Gladly  
><strong>_Rated: K+ – English – Romance/Friendship – Sherlock H & John W.  
><em>_by _**hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>Summary: Sherlock's an idiot for ever thinking John would say no. John wonders what took him so long to ask. WIP.

**Reviews (1)**

**just_tea_for_me  
><strong>Angelo's? 6Pm?

**Reply: hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>We can celebrate what is hopefully the first of many chapters of this fic. And maybe even reminisce on some pre-existing scenarios as to John and Sherlock getting together. There are some very adventurous M works out there.

**Reply: just_tea_for_me  
><strong>=)

**reply: hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>What was that you were saying before about emoticons? ;-)

**Reply: just_tea_for_me  
><strong>=P

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><p><strong>Misc: RPF: Sherlock Holmes: <strong>**Recent Uploads**

**Evaluative Technique  
><strong>_Rated: M – English – Romance – Sherlock H. & John W.  
><em>_by **just_tea_for_me  
><strong>_Summary: Sherlock finds the clichéd ideal of a soul mate in John Watson. A friend, a partner, a lover. And he intends to keep him for as long as he is wanted.

**Reviews (2)**

**hobbitsizedbadass  
><strong>*grin* An eternity I should imagine.

**silver_fox  
><strong>Wow! Fantastic writing, brilliant characterisation as to both John and Sherlock and the plot is so spookily realistic! It's a shame this only happens in fanfic, isn't it, and not in real life.

**Reply: just_tea_for_me  
><strong>Yes. It is a downright shame, isn't it?

;-)

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><p><em>Addendum: This fic has recived so much feedback so fast, it's unbelievable. Apart from saying thank you to everyone who has already reviewed, I'd just like to say that a lot of people have expressed an interest in reading some of the 'fics' mentioned in this work. If anyone is interested in filling one of these, please don't hesistate to get in touch, or write one and publish it, it would be fantastic to get some of them live as 'actual' fics =).<em>


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